


I believe in a thing called love

by AvandraTheMarySueSlayer



Category: Baldur's Gate
Genre: Adventure, Burglary, Diamonds are a girl's best friends, F/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-19
Updated: 2018-06-19
Packaged: 2019-05-25 10:55:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,427
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14975675
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AvandraTheMarySueSlayer/pseuds/AvandraTheMarySueSlayer
Summary: Little celebration one-shot for Strangeness and Charm - Siege of Dragonspear reaching over 200 views before it was finished. A little story of how Coran met and fell in love with Safana. Set between Baldur's Gate and Siege of Dragonspear.





	I believe in a thing called love

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoy this little celebration gift! I wish to dedicate it to those of you who faithfully read through the second part of my series. Now, I should be off to review and publish the next chapter for Strangeness and Charm - Shadows of Amn, as well as the celebratory one-shot for it reaching over one hundred views. Already! I am so happy I could die! To all of those who read any part of the series and continued to support me and push me to better myself and keep writing, as well as to those who are reading this tiny piece: thank you. You are the true fuel of my motivation. Now, I'll stop getting all sappy and let you enjoy this one!

* * *

 

Ah, Branwen. So beautiful and charming, with her fair hair and her button nose and her big br—no, he was getting side tracked.

 

Travelling in her company had been utterly delightful for Coran. She was gentle and kind, though unstoppable in battle. She was a priestess of Tempus, after all. It was her business to be strong. It did complicate everything a little bit, as she was nothing like the damsels in distress and delicate maidens he had courted before. Another complication was meeting Brielbara again in Baldur's Gate. He feared that Branwen would not take his past affair with the mage well, but she was quite understanding about it, and even provided him with a shoulder to cry on after he found out he had a daughter. And they spent a wonderful time together hidden in a warehouse in Candlekeep… Ah, he would not forget that lovely, rounded figure, the delightful things they did before facing the leads of the Iron Throne, the flush on her cheeks during their unfortunately short-lived afterglow.

 

So when the woman asked him to join her in her new mission for Tempus, back at Seawolf, he _froze._ Well, not outwardly, his cursed tongue was too fast and accepted to set sail beside the priestess, but on the inside he was terrified. Coran had never been able to commit himself, in any of his relationships. Not for lack of love; it was just because he loved adventure a little bit too much. And maybe women, in general. Yes, that was probably it. The night before their departure, he used his stealth to escape the ducal palace and left for the humbler east district. There, at the Elfsong Tavern, he met _her_ . Slick auburn hair, tanned skin, brown eyes that glinted with playfulness… There she was, the woman of his dreams, no doubt. Safana was her name. First, he tried to woo her with words, only to find, with some shock, that those were useless against her quick mind. She rebuffed his every attempt, each time with new, creative insults and sarcastic remarks. But there was something about the way she smirked when she said the Nine Hells would freeze all over before anything happened between them, something about how she laughed when he came to her with flowers… _“Darling, don’t waste your time with those._ Diamonds _are a girl's best friend,”_ she had told him.

 

So if diamonds were the key to Safana's heart, he would pick that lock in no time. Of course, finding those gems was kind of a big deal, and as far as everyone at the Ducal Palace knew, he had left to Seawolf with Branwen. So that place was definitely off-limits –besides, his former half-divine companion Cat would surely kick his arse if he went back asking for favors after leaving their adventuring group, and that was an asset he had always been quite proud of. So Coran thought, where else could he find a diamond?

 

The answer came to him as he roamed the northwest district at night, hidden in shadows, and his steps took him to the Silvershield estate. A truly magnificent mansion, surrounded by a ten feet tall stone wall, with an entrance closed with a fence custodied by heavily armed guards. He remembered sneaking in when he still worked with the Bhaalspawn, in order to aid Skie Silvershield to escape her luxurious imprisonment to elope with her lover, a selfish bastard named Eldoth. He had never truly loved her; he had merely used her to fill his pouch with Entar Silvershield’s ransom money. The girl, however, was smarter than the petty man had credited her for, and soon saw through his lies, kicked the bard to the curb and returned to the safety of her father’s estate. In Coran’s opinion, it was the best she could have done; as skilled at thievery as the young woman was, she was just not made for danger and adventure.

 

The last time they had broken in, they had done so from the backyard, so that was where he was headed. It was better guarded after Skie’s “kidnapping”, but it was still a piece of cake for Coran, especially with potions of invisibility. In that state, he could access the back door that led to the servants’ quarters with no problem. After that, he used the extra stealth that his shadow armor granted him to move from room to room undetected. At the main floor, he remembered there were guards at the stairs, so he decided to use another potion of invisibility, just in case. He wasn't certain his charm would work with those frowning masses of muscle. Cat had been able to convince them just fine, but then again, the Bhaalspawn had a special way with words and people that he had never seen in anyone before. So he tiptoed up the stairs and found himself in front of Skie's bedchambers. He quietly opened the door… to find her wide awake. Of course, his invisibility vanished in the moment he turned the knob, so she saw him, too. She wore… training clothes, perhaps pertaining to one of her father's guards, and she appeared to be practicing combat maneuvers. She let out a gasp when she saw Coran enter her room, but immediately relaxed when she recognized him.

 

“Hey! It’s been quite a while, hasn't it?” She cheerfully greeted the elf.

 

“Uh… yes?” Coran was dumbfounded. Why was she still awake at that time?

 

“Didn't you leave the city? I thought you were going somewhere with Branwen,” the woman commented, tilting her head to the side with curiosity.

 

He was done for. Skie wasn't precisely known for her discretion.

 

“Uh… I had to stay back for, um, a quest,” he lied, hoping she would drop the issue.

 

To his dismay, the girl's eyes lit up.

 

“A quest? How exciting! Tell me all about it! Can I help you? It’s been SO boring since I came back…”

 

Then Coran saw it. An opportunity.

 

“Actually, I’ve come here on such short notice because you are probably the only one who can help me,” he began, quickly inspecting the room to find the biggest diamond she owned. There was a tiara on the woman's giant dresser. The diamond in the middle of it would fall to her forehead like a ioun stone when worn, and even in the dark, it gleamed in rainbow hues where the moonlight hit it.

 

“Really?” Skie asked excitedly, even jumping a bit. She reminded the elf of Imoen, a former companion of his, who would react in very similar ways when in such a mood.

 

“There is an ancient evil lurking in the city,” Coran whispered, approaching the noblewoman to fake a sense of secrecy. “After her battle against Sarevok, the heroine of Baldur’s Gate is surely too exhausted, so we shouldn't put more weight on her shoulders than she already has.”

 

“Is that why you stayed in the city?” Skie asked, eyes wide like a doe’s.

 

Coran nodded dramatically.

 

“This ancient evil has but one weak point… which happens to be in your possession,” he continued, with the certainty that the naïve Skie had been utterly captivated by his tale.

 

Indeed, she had.

 

“Really? What is it? I’ll gladly give it to you so you can defeat that ancient evil!”

 

It was like stealing candy from a child. Coran felt a little guilty, but Skie had plenty of tiaras and diamonds; it wasn't like she was going to miss one.

 

“That diamond tiara you have over th—”

 

Coran and Skie turned to see a shocked Safana as she was snatching the tiara. She froze. Coran went pale. For a moment, Skie didn't react. The elven adventurer hoped he could somehow bullshit his and Safana's way out of that unexpected trouble.

 

However, Skie snapped out of it faster than Coran expected.

 

“Guards! There's a burglar in my chambers! GUARDS!” She screamed to the top of her lungs.

 

Probably on cue, a group of five armed guards stormed into the lady's room, catching Safana and Coran redhanded. The former quickly made a run for it… through the nearest window. The latter saw one of the guards swiftly nocking an arrow… and leapt between it and Safana with a loud, perhaps overly dramatic “NOOOO!” He felt the searing pain of the arrow through his shoulder as he fell down the window with Safana. Fortunately, he was still agile enough to catch her and switch their positions so he would cushion her fall. He felt a blunt pain in his skull, heard a crack, and everything faded to black.

 

*~*~*

 

“Coran, Coran!” Safana hissed, shaking the badly wounded elf. “Shit! Don’t you _dare_ dying on me, you stupid elf!”

 

From a pocket, she retrieved two potions of invisibility. She cradled Coran’s head and made him swallow one. When she felt the wetness of his hair, she almost froze. As she carefully laid his invisible form back on the ground, she quaffed the other potion. Her hands began to tremble when she saw her fingers covered with the adventurer’s blood. She needed to get him out of there. Feeling him with her hands, she managed, with some difficulty –invisibility _had_ its downsides– to pull him on her back and grab his legs. Hells, he was heavier than he looked. Their retreat was a lot slower than she would have wanted, but luckily the guards were unable to find them. To be honest, Entar Silvershield had total morons working for him, it was no wonder both she and Coran had managed to sneak into his estate so easily.

 

Safana headed south as fast as her legs could take her with the weight of another on her back. The tiny drops of blood Coran left behind, like a trail of stones, only propelled the thief's worries further. He was dying. She could barely walk while carrying him, but still… she needed to get to the Lady's Hall. It was the closest temple, and she was certain they wouldn't ask too many questions when they saw the man’s state. She kicked one of the doors open, dispelling her and the elf's invisibility and scaring the crap out of a couple Tymora acolytes who happened to be wandering around the area. Safana wasted no time in making herself be heard.

 

“This man needs help and he needs it NOW!” She bellowed for all of the temple to hear. “So whoever can heal him _please_ come right now! He’s lost a lot of blood and cracked his head open!”

 

One of the priests rushed to the thieves’ side and delicately lifted the elf off Safana’s shoulders. She let out a sigh of relief over the literal weight lifted off her shoulders… but there was still the metaphorical one. She paced around and watched nervously as the healers carefully removed the arrow _he_ had taken for _her,_ and watched, wide-eyed, as they joined hands and prayed. Light emanated from them and reached the wounded elf, healing his shoulder. Then, they went for the wound in his head. Their chants grew louder, and the light grew brighter, to the point Safana had to shield her eyes from it out of fear of being blinded. When the shining faded and she could uncover her eyes again, she saw how the priest who had taken him in passed his glowing hand over the unconscious elf’s body, frowning.

 

“He suffered quite a fall, it seems,” he commented. “He has several broken ribs, so he will need to stay so we can heal him completely.”

 

Safana nodded. She knew that such services would be costly, but she was willing to pay the price. That idiot was _not_ going to die.

 

*~*~*

 

Coran opened his eyes and quickly closed them again when the bright golden light almost blinded him. Reluctantly, he opened them again, slowly. He saw a golden dome and beautiful frescos of mighty adventurers. Then, the view was obscured by a face. A beautiful, worried face.

 

“Am I… in the Heavens?” He asked weakly, raising a hand to touch the angelic face.

 

The apparition snapped the hand right off and frowned.

 

“Of course not, you idiot! And not because you haven't tried!”

 

Then, he recognized the face he had taken for a celestial creature.

 

“Safana?” He murmured. “Where…?”

 

“The Lady's Hall. It was the closest place I could carry you. You’re really heavy for an elf,” she mumbled, looking away from him and pulling a strand of hair behind her ear.

 

Coran tried to sit up, but Safana quickly placed a hand on his chest and pushed him down.

 

“No. The priests said you still need to rest,” she said in a stern voice. “You almost got yourself killed! They literally said that you only survived because Tymora seems to favor you for some reason!”

 

Coran was dumbfounded. It was the first time he saw the woman so furious.

 

“Why did you have to play the hero like that?” She continued her verbal onslaught. “Why did you take an arrow for me and then the brunt of a freaking fifty feet fall? Why!?”

 

The elf couldn't help a smile from spreading in his face upon reading the worry in the woman's words, hearing it in her voice, seeing it in her eyes, now on the verge of tears. He raised a hand and caressed her cheek. She gasped in surprise, but didn't stop him.

 

“Well… what can I say, Safana?” He chuckled weakly. “You are a dame to die for.”

 

The thief took his hand in hers and squeezed it. Tears rolled down her face. She gritted her teeth.

 

“You idiot, you huge idiot!” She cried. “Don’t do this to me ever again!”

 

Then, she grabbed his face and kissed his lips with a fierceness he had never seen in any other woman before. After she parted it, Coran smiled from ear to ear, breathless but happy.

 

“Does this mean you finally return my feelings?”

 

Safana harrumphed.

 

“You really are an idiot.”

 

“By the way, what happened to the tiara? I saw you with it before we, um, escaped,” the elf asked, curious and charmed by the woman's sudden shyness.

 

Safana sighed.

 

“I sold it to pay for your healing… and enough potions of healing, antidotes, elixirs of health and stone to flesh scrolls for a lifetime of adventure.”

 

Then, she kissed him again. This time it was shorter, but sweeter.

 

“You are _my_ idiot,” Safana said, still frowning. “Don’t you forget it.”

 

Coran sighed in delight.

 

“Never, my love.”

**Author's Note:**

> I always felt Coran was kind of a dick, and Siege of Dragonspear all but confirms it, but still, I really liked the dynamics between him and Safana, and wished to write something about them. They are so similar in their own faults and yet they fit rather well together... until one of them cheats. Oh, well...
> 
> As always, all comments and feedback are deeply appreciated, so please don't be shy, I promise you will make my day!


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